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Wednesday 13 Jan 2016

Redeveloped Birmingham New Street station is supporting record growth for the city

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National

• Christmas retail sales inside the new station were 63% higher than 2014
• Office construction in Birmingham is growing at the fastest rate in 13 years
• The station welcomed around 5m people during December, five times the population of the city

 

The £750m redevelopment of Birmingham New Street station is helping to support record growth for the city, with the station welcoming almost one million people a week in the lead up to Christmas.

Brighter, de-cluttered platforms, improved entrances, a range of new facilities and an abundance of natural light over the new, five times larger concourse, is also turning Birmingham New Street into a retail destination in its own right, attracting new brands and modern, high-specification fit-outs.

The redeveloped station opened in September 2015 and now features 43 shops at concourse level – including new brands for the region such as Oliver Bonas, Leon, Moleskin, Joe’s Coffee House and Five Guys. Opening of the new concourse retailers led to a significant increase in pre-Christmas retail sales, which were 63% higher than Christmas 2014.

Hamish Kiernan, director of retail for Network Rail said, “Feedback from our retailers at the redeveloped station has been very positive. We want to provide more choice and convenience for our customers and believe the mix of retailers we have in the station is right for passengers and other station users.” 

Tim Hollidge, chief operating officer at Oliver Bonas said: "We had a strong Christmas at our new Oliver Bonas store in the re-developed Birmingham New Street station. Our sales in December were up 73% from November and we welcomed many old friends, and new customers, into our store."

The station is also a key footfall driver for Grand Central shopping centre, which sits above Birmingham New Street and provides more than 40 additional premium brands to choose from including a 250,000 sq ft John Lewis department store. 

Evidence is demonstrating that Network Rail’s investment in the station is also providing a major catalyst for wider regeneration in Birmingham, supporting up to 30,000 new jobs and opening up the south side of the City for up to £2 billion in investment.

Deloitte’s recent Birmingham Crane Survey, released last week, showed the city is building offices at the fastest rate in 13 years thanks to momentum created by major projects like Birmingham New Street station and Grand Central shopping centre. According to the report, over 969,000 sq ft of office space was being built in 2015 (well above the 10 year average of 384,000 sq ft), hotel construction was three times higher than the 10 year average and student apartments are now being developed for the first time since 2013.   

David Biggs, managing director of property for Network Rail said, “What we are increasingly seeing is clear evidence that investment in stations not only provides opportunities to create vibrant new destinations but is also a major catalyst for wider regeneration. Network Rail’s investment in Birmingham is already improving the experience for passengers and station users, and the station redevelopment is encouraging development in other areas of the City, creating jobs and supporting economic growth.”   

Total retail sales across Network Rail’s managed stations¹ increased by 4% in the Christmas period, a steady rise on record sales in 2014.

ENDS

NOTES TO EDITORS

 

1. Our managed stations

National stations	London stations
Birmingham New Street	Cannon Street
Bristol Temple Meads	Charing Cross
Edinburgh Waverley	Euston
Glasgow Central	King’s Cross
Leeds	London Bridge
Liverpool Lime Street	Liverpool Street
Manchester Piccadilly	Paddington
Reading	St Pancras International (managed by HS1)
	Victoria
	Waterloo

About Network Rail

Network Rail owns, manages and develops Britain’s railway – the 20,000 miles of track, 40,000 bridges and viaducts, and the thousands of signals, level crossings and stations (the largest of which we also run). In partnership with train operators we help people take more than 1.6bn journeys by rail every year - double the number of 1996 - and move hundreds of millions of tonnes of freight, saving almost 8m lorry journeys. We’re investing £38bn in the railway by 2019 to deliver more frequent, more reliable, safer services and brighter and better stations.

Our Property division optimises the value and use of Network Rail land, including at 18 of Britain’s busiest stations, and is also the UK’s largest landlord for small businesses. Network Rail Property contributed £1.4 billion to the railway between 2009 and 2014.

All profits from Network Rail’s commercial activities are reinvested back into the railway.

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